The present invention relates to an air filtration apparatus adapted to remove dust and other airborne particulates from a work station where an industrial operation, such as grinding, sanding, electrostatic powder coating, or abrasive blasting is being performed.
In the performance of industrial processes of the described type, significant quantities of dust and other particulates become entrained in the atmosphere surrounding the work station. Such airborne particulates present a significant health hazard to the workers, and the release of the particulates to the atmosphere can cause environmental problems.
To alleviate these problems, it has been proposed to position an air filtration apparatus along one side of the work station, so that the contaminated air is drawn from the work station through the apparatus and cleaned before being released to the atmosphere. One air filtration apparatus of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,427 to Abbott et al. The apparatus as described in the Abbott et al patent includes a housing which has a louvered front wall which is positioned to form a common wall with the work station. Also, a horizontal panel divides the housing into a lower dirty air chamber which receives the contaminated air from the work station, and a upper clean air chamber. A plurality of cartridge type filters are mounted to the horizontal panel and depend into the dirty air chamber and so that the dirty air which enters through the louvers at the lower portion of the housing passes upwardly through the filters and into the upper clean air chamber. The particulates are thus collected on the outer surfaces of the filters. Also, a reverse pulse air cleaning system is provided, by which the collected particulates may be periodically removed from the outer surfaces of the filters and so that they drop into slide drawers located in the bottom of the housing.
One significant disadvantage of the above described prior system is the fact that the contaminated air flows into the housing at ground level. As a result, the air flows through the work station primarily at ground level, and the flow at upper levels, which correspond to the breathing levels of the workers in the work station, may be less than is desirable to insure that clean air is available for breathing.
As a further disadvantage of the above described prior design, the clean air chamber is at the top of the housing which often requires that the outlet fan or blower be mounted on the top of the housing above the clean air chamber. This in turn may cause the housing to vibrate, and the location of the fan or blower on the housing requires that the housing be sufficiently strong to support the weight of the fan or blower.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an air filtration apparatus adapted for the control of industrial air pollution, and which alleviates the above noted disadvantages of the prior art systems.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an air filtration apparatus of the described type which provides for the contaminated air to enter the housing at an elevated level which corresponds to the breathing levels of the workers in the work station, so as to improve the quality of the air being breathed by the workers.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an air filtration apparatus of the described type wherein the fan or blower may be positioned on the floor adjacent the housing so as to avoid imparting vibrations to the housing and to reduce the required strength of the housing.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an air filtration apparatus of the described type which has provision for easily removing the particulates from the work station side of the housing, without the use of slide drawers or other complicated components.